A theatrical version of Initial D is confirmed for release in August 2014. [Official Thread]

UPDATES : Animax has confirmed that Final Stage will be available on its subscription-based VOD (Video On Demand) service starting May 16th, 2014. It will continue where Fifth Stage left off. Consist of a total of four episodes, Final Stage will be focusing on the long-awaited final 86 vs 86 battle between Takumi and Shinji. [confirmed]

UPDATES : Avex has confirmed that the New Initial D The Movie will be a trilogy. First part of the trilogy is called Legend 1 -Awakening- slated for release in theaters on August 23rd, 2014 (Japan Only) [confirmed]

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Hey everyone! I've decided to create a new topic on the touge battles throughout the series. I always wanted to see what the initial (heh) battles would've looked like in 1080p.

Additionally, I also wanted to see what the CG scenes between each battle would've looked like after cutting out all the talking segments. (Because let's be real here, no one talks to themselves that much when they're on the Touge drifting against their opponents.) And let's face it, when we want to watch a race, we want to see the cars in action. Not their facial expressions. HAHAHA.

SO! All anime segments that had gear shifting, foot braking and face-shot monologue-ing have been edited out. And to those complaining that the CG scenes are extremely choppy, that is because Shigeno didn't smooth out the CG shots inbetween the gear shifting, foot braking and face-shot monologue-ing segments. (Trust me, I made sure each CG segment was 00.00.01 seconds after each talking segment. Yeah.)

And yes, I'm well aware of Initial D's OVA, 'BATTLE STAGE' but there has been no 1080p re-release of it (as far as I'm aware anyways) AND I was incredibly curious to see the comparison between the original anime battle in contrast with BATTLE STAGE's cut of it.

NOTE: I have not bothered to smooth out the audio because that would've compromised the driving sfx inbetween scenes. So you MAY catch a bit of Japanese dialogue along the way (no, there aren't any subtitles in English attached), and the eurobeat tracks will jump around a bit.

I've never uploaded a video on YouTube before so I'm curious if this will get taken down. I'll leave the comments section open, but I've done this more as a personal favor to myself. If you enjoyed what I was trying to accomplish then that's great! If not, then just stick to the Battle Stage OVA's

I'll be uploading the rest of the battles later on (I've only just completed the entirety of First Stage's battles. I'll get onto Second Stage later on once I'm finished with my Uni exams LOL.)

Just had a quick look. I like the idea. One suggestion would make is have a third-party eurobeat track over the top to maybe mask the cuts in music. Also, it would stand out quite well (though I'm not sure where it would stand in regards to copyright)

Hey thanks! Unfortunately I have no idea how to mask full Eurobeat tracks on top of the existing audio. Any ideas on how to do this? I hope my next couple of vids don't get taken down!

UPDATE: So there have been a few 'Copyright Content' disclaimers on 2 of the videos I've uploaded (However, these copyright disclaimers still allow me to keep the videos on there. So! I should be fine uploading the rest without risk of YouTube taking them down!)

Hey thanks! Unfortunately I have no idea how to mask full Eurobeat tracks on top of the existing audio. Any ideas on how to do this? I hope my next couple of vids don't get taken down!

As far as I know, you can't. To get it close, just adjust the volume of the full e-beat track so that the SFX of the show can be heard. This is what I meant about standing out - you might just hear snippets of the original soundtrack, but if you don't think about it (the original soundtrack), it should be fine (I've experimented with this sort of thing before).

As far as I know, you can't. To get it close, just adjust the volume of the full e-beat track so that the SFX of the show can be heard. This is what I meant about standing out - you might just hear snippets of the original soundtrack, but if you don't think about it (the original soundtrack), it should be fine (I've experimented with this sort of thing before).

Ahhhh i see, interesting! Is there a particular editing program or software that you'd recommend I use to attempt this? I'm willing to try haha I'm assuming I need to add additional audio file(s) to the video itself to achieve this?

It was the early 2000's. Lots of anime had that problem and it wasn't perceived as an issue back then because of budgets and the obvious strength in using cg models for racing scenes to cut the budget even more (no need to pay guys to draw the cars in every frame when a computer can do it more efficiently). It looks damn good for a series that would warrant a low budget after the pitch meeting that it probably got.

The frame rate is also tied to the rate of the surrounding material. Typical anime is "shot" at a horrendous frame rate to keep costs down. Think single digit fps on an average show. Something with a huge budget will feel a hell of a lot smoother because they're capable of drawing more cels for each second of film. Insane amounts of anime are drawn specifically for low budget + high sales schemes. Look at Great Teacher Onizuka as an example. Massively popular but almost zero yen put into the production.

Yeah! I was expecting a flowing CG sequence between the turns, hairpins and straightaways in being a consistent and invigorating race. Instead, it just seems a little disjointed when I pieced it all together. Oh well. It was worth a try! (And I'm definitely not going to stop now that I've come into the Second Stage. I've got First, Second, Fifth and Final Stages in the 1080p Blu-Ray rips so we'll see how the future stages turn out. (Yes, I have read the screenshot caps of the Third and Fourth Stage differences between the DVD and Pit2 releases, and the disappointment in its upscale, and I might just give up on my hunt and investment in Pit2. HOWEVER. I'm not going to give up. Yet. heh.)

Anyways, have you guys had a look at it? Should I attempt to smooth over the eurobeat tracks so it's a little more 'watchable' than where its at in its current state?

Ahhhh i see, interesting! Is there a particular editing program or software that you'd recommend I use to attempt this? I'm willing to try haha I'm assuming I need to add additional audio file(s) to the video itself to achieve this?

I use CyberLink PowerDirector, though any commercial video editing software should be fine (including, if you dare, Windows Movie Maker. I've also used that in the past)

AAAAAAAAAAAND First Stage is at a close! There are 7 battles in total from First Stage (Season 1) and its contents have been neatly compiled into a playlist for your enjoyment. Hopefully you guys can enjoy it! (Link is attached to my first post.)

Additionally, there are a few videos that show CG content but were not Touge battle oriented. (So they have not been attached to my compilation playlist.) They only go for about a minute long, but hey! Any drifting is good drifting

EDIT: Hey guys! Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal sorry I haven't uploaded anything in the last couple months. I got really sick and tired of compiling the AE86 (TRUENO) vs AE86 (LEVIN) battle and (sort of) gave up midway. But! I'll return to it eventually. Just need to feel the need to so I can complete it ahaha.

That being said, I've uploaded all the touge battles from Initial D's Fifth Stage (again, in 1080p) & the final battle from Final Stage.

PS: At a later date, I will be finishing the AE86 battle from Second Stage.